Students Revolt! Unrest Across CUNY Campuses

April 1969. Multiple incidents across CUNY continue to demonstrate a state of discord between students and the CUNY Board of Higher Education over policy reforms.

March 31. One faculty member and 38 students at Queens College were arrested after hosting a four-day sit-in protest in the Social Sciences building.

April 1. Queens College President Joseph P. McMurray released a statement to the Queens College community about his decision to call in the arrest of the students and faculty member. You can read the statement in detail below.

April 22. After several independent incidents of protest on the City College campus, CCNY students began a full occupation of the University. The student protesters renamed the occupied campus Harlem University and offered open-door meetings and services to the community.

top of typewriter-written "Statement by President Joseph P. McMurray"
Queens College Office of the President, “Statement by President Joseph P. McMurray,” CUNY Digital History Archive, accessed December 21, 2021, https://cdha.cuny.edu/items/show/6052.

You are experiencing consequences from the unrest, too. Classes have been canceled, there’s a lot of commotion on the streets, and you feel like anything can happen at any given moment. You go to campus to see what’s going on. 

As soon as you get out of the subway station, a young woman clad in all-black approaches you and hands you a flier from Queens College.

header page of statement, "Support the 5 Demands" with Queens College letterhead

Ad Hoc Committee to End Political Suppression, “Support the 5 Demands,” CUNY Digital History Archive, accessed December 22, 2021, https://cdha.cuny.edu/items/show/5912.


You walk toward the library. On the way, you notice another flier with very large lettering wheat-pasted onto a telephone booth.

portion of "Answer Back" flyer in bold handwritten ink

Unknown, “”Answer Back / Don’t Strike”,” CUNY Digital History Archive, accessed December 22, 2021, https://cdha.cuny.edu/items/show/5822.